As­traZeneca's block­buster Fasen­ra fails on one of two PhI­II eosinophilic esophagi­tis tri­al end­points

As­traZeneca has been look­ing to give it­self an edge against oth­er ri­val treat­ments in eosinophilic in­di­ca­tions, such as GSK’s Nu­cala, but an ini­tial read­out from a Phase III tri­al may have now blunt­ed that ap­proach.

The phar­ma re­port­ed Tues­day morn­ing that Fasen­ra, test­ed in a late-stage tri­al called MESSI­NA, did not meet one of the two dual-pri­ma­ry end­points in eosinophilic esophagi­tis (EoE). EoE is a rare dis­ease that oc­curs when eosinophils (a va­ri­ety of white blood cells) ac­cu­mu­late in the esoph­a­gus, caus­ing in­flam­ma­tion and lead­ing to dif­fi­cul­ty swal­low­ing and pain.

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